well my auditions whent well again this year. but my only doun-fall is sight reading. i'm pritty good at it, but for where i'm at, the sight reading pieces are crazy hard. people say you can't practice sight reading but i think they are full of crap. anyways i'm woried about people chalenging me for my chair (we use sight reading for chalenges) i have about three weeks for preperation. what are some ways i can improve.

take sight reading in stages...my g/f told me this so credit goes to her...First study rhythmes, simple to complex patterns...if you have access to smartmusic, this can help a bunch. Then take it basic solos and exercises, sightread those until there easy to sightread, and take it up another level...Thats how shes done it and she is an amazing sight reader.

But yes, it can be practiced...As Dale Warren of University of Kentucky said during Trombone Day 2007, You aren't really sight reading the rhythms, just the notes...which make since, so study your rhythms like no other and you'll do just fine after awhile...but practice can be done

sweet Adam I was wondering the same thing. There should be free music for trombone also on 8notes, so I would practice those.

sweet Adam I was wondering the same thing. There should be free music for trombone also on 8notes, so I would practice those. Or other pieces you can access.

Definitely read new stuff every day. Don't stop when you make a mistake. You can always borrow from others if you need new material to sightread. Borrow from bassoonists, cellists, trumpets (transposing, of course)... whatever you can get your hands on.
Before you start... Note Time signature, key signature, check the road map, and look for trouble spots.
One thing to keep in mind when sight reading... don't see notes, see entire phrases. See entire rhythmic figures, not just one eighth note to the next.
If you have a long string of 16th note groupings (or triplets, or any other grouping, you get the idea)... focus on the first note of every group. If you make sure to get at least the first note of each grouping right, you are far more likely to get the rest of it.
Start working on dictation and sight singing. Dictation will help you recognize figures faster, especially rhythms. Sight singing will help you learn to hear intervals correctly which will in turn lead you to buzzing pitches correctly. You'll miss fewer partials, I guarantee it.
Start transposing familiar melodies into the less familiar keys.
These are just some suggestions. Sight reading is a crucial skill. I can tell you that for the Navy music program, the audition is 50 percent sight reading!
Keep at it!

thanks for the advice